Weather file for remote location

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Hi Everyone,

I am trying to find a weather file for Mbale Uganda and was wondering what
the best approach would be.

I know that Meteonorm can provide me with a weather file that will be an
interpolation of 6 locations. Specifically, *"Meteonorm interpolates
radiation with help of satellite data (DWD CMSAF for this region) and
temperature and other parameters with help of ground measurements. In case
of Mbale it uses : KISUMU (145 km), Eldoret (137 km), NAKURU (260 km), Meru
(402 km), Nairobi/Jomo Kenyatt (404 km), Garissa (630 km)"*

I also see that IES, that uses Weather Analytics, can provide data for
virtually any location, but they are not saying - or I didn't find - how
they calculate them.

What would you recommend as the best approach to that?

I appreciate your input

thanks

Mili Kyropoulou

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My recommendation is to use actual recorded weather data whenever possible.? Even if the
recorded data is not at the desired site, that would be preferred to reanalysis data if
the recorded data are within 1 degree latitude and longitude.? Why?? Because reanalysis
data, which is what Weather Analytics provides (or used to provide, as the case may be),?
are computer generated weather data running? a Climate Forecasting Model in retrospective
mode* that has a 1/2 degree grid. In other words, leaving aside the question how well do
reanalysis data match measured data (and the samples I've seen can be all over the
map...), even if the match is perfect there's still the uncertainty of a grid value versus
a site-specific value.

Looking through the measured weather data available to me, there is a station in Tororo
(UGA_TORORO_636840) located 43 kilometers directly south of Mbale that has 10 years of
recorded data (2005-2012, 2016-17 ). Data in some of the years are shaky, but there's
enough to make a decent "typical year" weather file. Since I now also have
satellite-derived solar for all of Africa Feb. 2004 to date, that eliminates solar
radiation as the biggest technical concern about weather files.? This means the resultant
weather file for Tororo will be quite reliable, with no need to interpolate from other
stations or rely on reanalysis data.

Please e-mail me for more details.

Joe

Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com for simulation-ready weather data
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"

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Forgot to add the information for the asterisk (*):

* for more information on reanalysis data, please go to the wikipedia article on
Meteorological reanalysis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meteorological_reanalysis

Joe

Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
yjhuang at whiteboxtechnologies.com
http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com for simulation-ready weather data
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"

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Hi Mili,

As you?ve found, weather files from Weather Analytics are available through IES at https://www.iesve.com/support/weatherfiles/weather-analytics and cover any global location.

Unfortunately we don?t have access to their sources or methods, as this is their IP, but here is their description of how they generate the files https://www.weatheranalytics.com/how-we-do-it/

Perhaps if you contact Weather Analytics directly they may have some additional technical resources they are willing to share that can help.

https://www.weatheranalytics.com/contact-us/

Kind Regards

Jeanne

+27 (0)84 592 8392

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